Some interesting facts about the base was that both Colonel Paul Tibbits and Major Charles Sweeney (of the 509th Composite Group fame) were stationed at this base at one point during World War II. According to Sweeney's book "War's End", Grand Island Army Air Field was a major B-29 training base (which makes sense due to its proximity to the Martin bomber plant in Omaha). Sweeney also took Curtis LeMay on his initial B-29 training flight here.
During the 1960's, Grand Island Regional Airport (the old GI Air Base) was utilized by Aerospace Defense Command as a F-106 interceptor dispersal base. These aircraft were deployed from Richards-Gebur Air Force Base outside of Kansas City, Missouri. These dispersal flights ended in 1968.